Cyborg Haven Update

The following game titles have been added to my list of Video Games I've Played:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
• Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic 2 and S&K Lock-on)

I wasn't sure if the TMNT game had some kind of subtitle, but thanks to the January issue of Nintendo Power (issue #250, the one with 250 reasons to love Nintendo), I found out it didn't have a subtitle.  Both my sister and I played that game.  I reached the part when my last Ninja Turtle had to rescue Splinter and the other turtles from this evil Ninja Turtle, but I lost.  My sister made it past that part, but had difficulty surviving the next area.  The captured turtles never recovered after they were rescued, so their health gauge was still very low. 
As for Knuckles the Echidna, that game was easy.  I mean, come on, it's Sonic 2, a game I've mastered, starring Knuckles.  I dunno if I might be able to play either of these games again.  I certainly can't play Knuckes the Echidna in my PSP's Sega Genesis Collection or the Sonic Mega Collection Plus.  Although, for the latter, I hope that at least it's unlockable.  Or maybe it isn't.

EDIT 1/2/10:  I want to add two more games to the same list.

• Wayne Gretzky Hockey (NES)
• Mickey Mousecapades (spelled wrong?...NES)

My sister and I still remember the intro music from the Nintendo hockey game and she remembered that's what the game was called, Wayne Gretzky Hockey.  As for the Mickey Mouse game...I've beaten it a few times, and it was an okay game at the time. You play as Mickey and Minnie (either one player or co-op) and fight a boss at the end of every level.  Maybe I'll give more details on any upcoming Reminisce posts.

Crisis Core on Dec. 18th, continued =P

Sorry for the delay, so here it is, Part 2 of Crisis Core on Dec. 18th.

On this post I wanted to focus more on Zack Fair and Cloud Strife.
I reached the part in the game when Zack watched the injured Cloud sleep in the inn.  When Cloud woke up, they had a conversation, and it was so fun to watch!!  Squeeeeeeeeeeeaaalll!  But it was a very important scene.  In fact I fear that it is one of the last conversations Cloud has with Zack before the next major event on the fateful day in Nibelheim.

    Zack watches Cloud sleep in the inn because he's a comrade and he cares about him.  I don't know who else, besides Kunsel and the other guys at SOLDIER, that Zack knows and became close buddies with, but with Cloud, it's a really special relationship.  Some time ago, Cloud e-mailed to Zack about how the SOLDIER Honor pep talk gave him courage.    Both guys are "country boys", as they found out about each other back in the Modeoheim mission.  In fact it was when they both revealed to each other that they were country boys that their buddy bond started.  Nyawww, so cute!  So it's no wonder that they have a kinship.  One even thinks the other's hometown's name sounds funny.  Zack is from Gongaga.  Cloud is from Nibelheim.  Ha ha haha.  Funnnnyyy.
    Players of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII who have played the orignal FFVII know that the Buster Sword will belong to Cloud.  We've always known that Cloud is the one with the Buster Sword, but Zack has it in Crisis Core, and even before Zack, Angeal carried the sword first.  So, again  that is the trinity of men who hold the iconic Buster Sword.
    SPOILERS, probably... Zack gives advice to Cloud in the Nibelheim Inn scene.  "SOLDIER is a den of monsters.  Don't go in there."  Zack says this because he wants to protect Cloud.  He doesn't want him to be caught up in the web that is Shin-Ra and SOLDIER.  Zack learned from his experience in SOLDIER that it's not all it's cracked up to be.  He says, "I'm in SOLDIER, so fightings all I do." But then he starts going into how the whole system of it is corrupted.  It is as if the members of SOLDIER are tools, or muscle hired to do whatever Shin-Ra tells them to do.  He can't get all the answers from that guys at the top.  There are secrets being kept that Zack is frustrated about not knowing, like "who is the enemy," he says.  I am guessing that one thing he might be talking about is Angeal, about which side he was on even if he was a "monster" of a sort.  Angeal's mysteries and reasons for being in SOLDIER still confuse Zack, and he tries to calm himself down and he does that thing that Angeal did with putting his forehead to the Buster Sword.  Nyawww!
     Cloud tells Zack that he never saw him use that sword, and it takes me back to when Angeal was talking about the sword when he possessed it.   I knew that Zack said the same thing to Angeal, so it was absolutely reminiscent of that when Cloud said it too.  A funny line from Angeal: "Your a little more important than my sword.  But, just a little."  And then later Zack told the other members to "always protect their SOLDIER Honor."  He was passing on advice from his personal mentor onto Cloud and the other soldiers.
     So Zack remembered that and felt renewed.  It is as if Cloud helped Zack believe in SOLDIER Honor again...
     [Sigh] I don't want to play past those wonderful moments, but I have to.   -___-

NiGHTS needs our help!! The "Don't Forget NiGHTS Campaign"

NiGHTS is not a playable character in Sonic and SEGA Allstars Racing, so I want to help spread the message.  This is a re-posting of this post.

NiGHTS need our help.

    I am a concerned fan of the NiGHTS franchise.  I recieved the latest an issue of Nintendo Power last week and I read about the video game Sonic and SEGA All-Star Racing, but I didn't see one word, not a mention, of NiGHTS  being included in the game at all.  This character has had at least two games of his own (see, I get in the habit of calling NiGHTS a "he," or "his," but I should stop that).
      I've never played NiGHTS into Dreams, but I did play NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams.  The point is, I've been a NiGHTS fan since 1997.  I recently visited NiGHTS into Dreams.com and this particular post on the website  definitely caught my attention.
      NiGHTS makes me smile :) .  NiGHTS make a lot of people smile.  NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is so colorful and the music is wonderful and I'm always in a good mood after playing it for a while (just thought I should throw that out there).
     But I read the post on the website and it made me realize how vulerable NiGHTS is to fading away.  NiGHTS is ceasing to exist because the people at SEGA are not aware that so many people, 3,200+ fans mind you, are such loyal fans of the franchise.  There may be even more fans of NiGHTS who are quiet about it but are still fans.  I want to do something about it, and there is a way.  I think that the Sonic and SEGA Allstars Racing game looks fun from what I've read in the magazine.  Just like NiGHTS tried tennis in SEGA Superstars Tennis, it would be great for him to try out racing.  He'd have a purple race car ;)
     I think the people at NiGHTS into Dreams.com are doing something wonderful sharing this news with us fans and allowing us to get involved.
     I'm not talking about this just because I want to.  I mean, I do want to.  But this is for the other NiGHTS fans who are able to download content for their Wii consoles.  I personally can't download content to my own Wii unit; I'm not into that stuff.  But this is something I am so passionate about that I somehow have to get involved, regardless of my own situation.
     There is no reason for NiGHTS not to be included in a SEGA game that has the word "Allstars" in it.  NiGHTS is literally a star.  A SEGA star.  If Sonic the Hedgehog is in this game, then so should NiGHTS.  He still may have a chance to be added as DLC (downloadable content) for the game. To learn more about it,  you can click on the link below. 

http://www.nightsintodreams.com/?p=688

The next link has another link to a forum discussion about the Don't Forget NiGHTS Campaign:
http://www.nightsintodreams.com/?p=634

Video game related holiday gifts...and Dissidia!!! :D

During last year's holiday season I received Sonic Unleashed as a gift from my parents.  It was a game I wanted, but I wasn't sure about buying it myself.  It turned out that I got it as a gift and I was so grateful to them for getting it for me.  Actually, the game was for both me and my sister, but I'm pretty much the only sibling playing that game whenever I get to it.
     This holiday season, I got two games.  One and a half, I guess.  For the both of us my mom gave me a game for the Wii called Deal or No Deal.  Ah heh heh.  Not what I expected (she is almost clueless as to what taste in games I have) but I think it might be fun because I can use a custom-made Mii, and I have an idea who I can try out.  It'll be hilarious.  I have Wide-Eye-Guy.  I'll give him a try.  I guess it's a break from games with familiar characters like Naruto or Cloud...
     Yes I said Cloud.  Obviously my sister knows exactly what my taste in video games is.   She gave me Dissidia: Final Fantasy !!!!!  8O OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!  I sqealed with joyyyy! I wanted to buy that game since August when it was released, but I was still working on Crisis Core (and still at it) and I was afraid to get Dissidia in case it will keep me from completing my first ever PSP game.  The extra bonus with this gift was that she ordered the Dissidia: Final Fantasy strategy guide as well, and omg I've thought about getting that too!  I thought to myself, Nah, I don't need to get a strategy guide for every game I have.  But my sis knew I would appreciate that she bought it for me.  Ohhhh, so nice, so nice...
     I had to give her something too.  I had to order it online, because it is a hard-fo-find item.  I bought her the .Hack Game Music Perfect Collection.   She calls herself a "dothackaholic", and I think she is right.  o___O  She occasionally squealed  with joy.  So I say "Merry NiGHTS-mas" to her, and she rolls her eyes like "oh, come on."  She doesn't understand my NiGHTS-yness   -____- ...
     For my Dad I got him Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.  Resident Evil is one of his favorite video game franchises.  He started to try it out an hour or so after the presents were opened.   I just had to make fun of it: ya know the guy that would say the title of the game.  Like "Resident Evil...Fouuuuuur!"   So I came up with what the title-screen voice would say this time.  It's as if the game makers kept the recording of the whole thing.  That'd be so funny if it really happened:

     "RESIDENT EVIL...Fi...uh [starts to whisper behind himself] what's the number of it this time?  Oh, it doesn't have a number?  What the--Whadaya mean it doesn't have a number...oh, a subtitle?  The Darkside...The Darkside Chronicles?  What kind of name is tha---RESIDENT EVIL: THE DARKSIDE CHRONICLES!!"

     Crisis Core post  part 2 coming up later...

Crisis Core again, back in Dec.18th

 

This post is waaaaay overdue.  Sorta.

Friday night December 18th (and into Saturday morning ^.^;;) I played Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII again because I had to. I shouldn't be afraid anymore to getting closer to finishing the game. I might finish the original FFVII before I finish this one, although that is not necessary.

     To sum it up, I finished finding a couple more of the Seven Wonders of Nibelheim, and then I played into the part when Genesis talks to Sephiroth about the Jenova Projects.  My details are below.  Enjoy!!

     I was still stuck on finding out if the girl in the painting was really walking around.  I made another futile search around Nibelheim and found some more gil, killed some more monsters, and stole some yummy items Zack can use...and I think I got another Thunder materia.  I have a few of those, I can sell this one.  I almost gave up on this little side adventure, when I returned to the inn checking the painting again over and over.  The girl is there, the girl is missing, the girl is there.  I went down stairs.  All of the sudden the male clerk at the inn started making his way up the stairs.  I had Zack approach him, and he says something like "Oh, you scared me!  Well, uh...your room is ready, you are welcome to use it."

     Huh.  I wonder what's up with him.   What could he be doing upstairs?

     Later after catching him going upstairs again, I thought about something.  I should wait until he goes into the room himself and see what happens.  So when he walks up the stairs again, I follow him and stay a little farther behind than usual.  The clerk goes into the room.  Of course, Sephiroth is oblivious, staring out the window and brooding, nostalgic ( I remember Sephiroth looking out the window in the original game, so I know where this will lead soon).  After the man enters the room, Zack runs after him and catches him  lifting the painting and reaching his hand into the wall-safe.  The clerk explains that he has a "nest egg"  he keeps hidden from his wife.  He uses the money for gambling and the painting changes depending on his money situation.  If there's money in there, the girl is in the painting.  If it's the opposite, the painting is flipped to the side without the girl.  For finding this out, Zack gets 2,000 gil!!!  Yay!!!!

     The third Wonder was already found: one of those Gold Bombs or something, I might be wrong.  And then the boy told Zack about the fourth wonder, the "Laughing Safe" ( in the Shinra Manor)....ehhh.  Besides the one piece of paper Zack found that had one clue for each digit of the

     So I gave up on that Wonder and went to the save point in the inn, saved my game (since I fought more monsters and got more gil) and went right to Sephiroth.  So yes: Sephiroth says that the "landscape seems so familiar" to him.  In the following scenes, I learn more about Sephiroth because before he became the villain of FFVII, he had his own human emotions.   After he wonders what these monsters are doing in the mako reactor, he wonders if this was also how he was created.  Just watching him look at his hands, as if trying to reassure himself those are human hands, was so interesting to observe.  He asks himself : "Am I a human being?"  Those are the moments when he struggles with his own identity.

     Sephiroth always believed that Jenova was his mother, a human mother.  Well, I don't remember Genesis being in the original game, but in Crisis Core he reveals to Sephiroth that Jenova was an alien life form.  Genesis says, "I don't know what images of her you've conjured up in your head..."  and then I think to myself, Get ready, here it comes...o-0.

     What is ironic when Genesis calls Sephiroth a "perfect monster" is that Sephiroth doesn't look like a monster at all.  LOL.  But the fact that he has a high level of mako in his body and extraordinary fighting abilities makes him a huge question mark.  Even Angeal called himself a perfect monster, which leads me to believe that he realized he wasn't like other SOLDIER members long before Sephiroth did. Unlike Genesis and maybe Angeal, Sephiroth  doesn't "degrade," as Genesis calls it (his own body is degrading, aka deteriorating), and he asks Sephiroth to "share your cells with me."  Uhh... O__O  But he wants to take advantage of Sephiroth's Jenova-infused cells.  I should say "wanted to" cuz it's in the past.  And somehow, Genesis knew about the Jenova Project G and Jenova Project S (the "s" is for Sephiroth I assume) before Sephiroth did.  But maybe Sephiroth wasn't supposed to know about Jenova and the projects.  [Sigh]  Gosh...

     I dunno if I'd call myself a fan of Sephiroth even if he's from Final Fantasy VII.  But it is nice to be reminded that he never started out evil.  :)

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Next is the buddy-bonding of Zack and Cloud ;] )

    

More crappy drawings, er, doodles o___0

I drew these on Christmas Eve cuz I was a bit down in the dumps.  I instantly turned my mood to "giddy" after I doodled on my current journal (using a regular pencil then a mechanical pencil the rest of the time):

Here's Zack Fair, my number 5.  Obviously this guy is

immune to the emo germs.  Please ignore

the little heart as the dot for the "i" in Fair.

Whoops.  Too late.

And here's my number 2, Vincent Valentine.  As you can see, it's not so good.  I think I drew his hair way too long.  I dunno if it's supposed to be that long.  But I like his expression:  he is lost in thought.  So nyaww.
     Maybe I should start a DA account...?  N, naaah.

^,^ 

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I know it's a little late and all, but I wanna say it anyway...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Oh, and for all my fellow NiGHTS fans out there... Merry NiGHTS-mas!!

Cyborg Haven Update: Upcoming Crisis Core posts

I actually played Crisis Core: FFVII again a couple of days before I played Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier.  But I am not done with the post for it.  I'm still working on it because it's a long section, and I've even decided to split it into two parts.  I want to be careful with writing about Crisis Core because of it's complex themes and characters.  So, stay tuned... 

@.@

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, Dec. 20th

I finally returned to Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, and I had a lot of fun!!!  ^.^

     I collected 28 more Precursor Orbs (because I had 7, then I got one from an orb hunt, and then many more from the next several tasks and missions that I completed).

• Flying mission Pursue Phoenix
• Brink Island: Look for a way out of Island
• Meet the Castaway
• Retrieve Velonium Mod
• Return to Castaway's Treehouse
• Disable the Phantom Blade
• Confront Captian Phoenix
• Buy More Eco Skills from Keira
• Customize Your Plane

     (SPOILERS, Probably...) At about 7:35pm I started where I left off, sort of: after passing an obstacle course to practice shooting his new blaster gunstaff mod, Jak is supposed to return to Duke Skyheed.  So I had to run from the start of the city all the way to Skyheed's Manor, and get the Eco Seeker to help with finding Eco.  Unfortunately, Captain Phoenix steals it, and as Keira tries to get it back, Phoenix takes her away too!  So since he flies away on his ship, then that means there is going to be another flying mission.  Yay?
     Yay!  It was a very intense but fun flying mission.  It was also the first mission that I tried the "Daxterjack" function, which got frustrating because I often confuse the square button with the circle button.  I made myself remember that the square button is on the left side.  ("Got that memorized?" Yay, Axel! :] )  So that helped make things easier for me, and I was able to complete the mission.  Then Jak had to crash land on the Brink Island.  This area was where I found so many Precursor Orbs.  Ha ha, finding the Precursor Orbs is the main reason why I ordered the strategy guidebook.  I at least want to get all the ones that are in the areas because not all orb hunts are going to be easy right away.  Anyway, Jak got the Eco Amplifier near the beginning of this mission and it's totally helpful.  It's this big orb of red eco light and when he shoots at it it creates an explosion.  Somehow it doesn't hurt Jak, but that's okay ;)
     Then soon he meets the Castaway.  He looks an awful lot like Vin from Jak II and Jak 3.  You know, maybe the character designers at High Impact Games must've liked the character design for Vin; the white hair and the weird glasses (or goggles? for the castaway), scientific knowledge,  and I think this new guy even sounds a bit nutty.  Jak probably thought so too, he just didn't say anything.  So, the Castaway tells Jak to find the Velonium Mod to power up his Hellcat.  Unfortunately that meant a boss fight; this robot called the Uber-bot 888 had the item Jak needed.  It wasn't a frustrating boss fight, once I figured out what to do.  I only glanced at what the strategy guide said to do; I feel better when I figure out things for myself.  There was a lot of jumping, running, and certainly the heavy use of the Eco Amplifier.  Timing is key.
     Oh, I love the Eco Construction ability!  If Jak stands on green Eco crystals and uses Eco Construction, a green crystal platform materializes for a few moments (or less) so Jak can get across to the other side of an area.  It is also useful as a sort of split-second shield, as demonstrated in the boss battle against Uber-bot 888.
     After the two-part boss battle, Jak was able to use his Hellcat again, and the next mission was Disable the Phantom Blade, anothe pirate ship.  This flying mission was a little more difficult because I had to keep shooting at the different assigned targets--the engines, the thrusters, and then the turrets--and I had to watch out for Jak's a** at the same time.  The first two objectives of this mission are timed, and I failed again and again because it was a limited-time mission.  However, the third objective wasn't limited in time, but the Hellcat got destroyed a few times before I (heh, Jak) could finally take out the last of the turrets.  During the third objective I was able to practice the "Daxterjack" function on several of the other flying planes so that it won't be so confusing in the future.
    After the Phantom Blade was disabled, Jak landed his Hellcat inside, and it is sort of another area/city to walk around.  There are people walking around--other pirates.  I had gathered a lot of Eco points or whatever, so I was able to find Keira and trade them in for two more Eco Skills:  Infuse Enemy 1 and Eco Power Regan 1.  Then I had to customize the Hellcat, a task I am not a big fan of.  Customizing...that sort of word reminds me of the combat racing cars in Jak X that every time I changed something about it, the game auto-saved, and one fateful day that caused a problem.  [shudders]  I didn't do too much with this in Jak and Daxter: TLF.  I added the Flak Cannon 1x and the Extra Repairs Mod to the Hellcat.  Maybe I'll customize the other plane too, but I stopped at 10:05pm.  It was enough for then.  I had fun.  ^,^

My funny Assassin's Creed drawing

For all you Assassin's Creed fans out there, I apologize in advance.  I had to draw a funny Assassin's Creed 2 picture.
I was in a GameStop store yesterday and there was a TV screen behind the counter.  It was playing trailers for different video games, and one of them was Assassin's Creed 2.  It was the ad that shows four faces of the men that the new assassin Ezio killed.  Next it shows his eyes, and then he blinks.  Then he turns around, and then you don't see his eyes, but you see his nose and mouth.
     That's the thing, though.  Most of the time, you can't see his eyes (probably not supposed to), but his nose is out there.  I've seen this ad at least four times now.  I don't know if I would ever play this game, or if I want to.  But I'm interested in it because it takes place in Renaissance Italy, and Ezio gets to meet Leonardo da Vinci.  Stealth is not my favorite genre though, hmm.  Ehh.
     Ezio Auditore.  I like his last name.  Au-dee-TOH-reh.  I like the sound of that.  Or at least, that's the way I would pronounce it as an Italian name.

This isn''t the drawing, of course.  This is an image

I scanned from the holiday issue of Playstation the

Official Magazine.  This is so you guys can

see why I had to make fun of Ezio... or the other

guy from the first Assassin's Creed.

So, here is the drawing I made myself do.
 Da da da daaaaa!

I'm terrible!  : D  : D  : D

A Weird AVATAR Dream

On Decmber 12th (Saturday morning before waking up...jeez, almost a week ago), I had a strange dream about the Avatar movie.  Unconsciously I must have known that the video game for the Wii was coming out soon.  I am curious about the game and the movie.  Those Na'vi are so interesting...
     Anyway, I dreamed that I was watching what might have been the movie.  And then, something happened to the Na'vi land, so then they resorted to eating the human invaders (I don't think they'd actually do that). Suddenly I was in their world, so I had to hide.  Why is it that in these dangerous situations I suddenly enter the world that I am watching or playing?
    I'm going to analyze this now.  Maybe deep inside I want to be in those other worlds, like the worlds from Jak and Daxter, NiGHTS into Dreams, and Kingdom Hearts, for three examples.  What would I do if I were Jak, NiGHTS, or Sora?  That sort of thing?  But I don't really decide everything that happens in my dreams.  It would be nice if I did.  But, my unconcious creates these dreams.  So why did I dream about the Avatar world Pandora?  I think my Jak dreams stopped because I am aware that I have the new Jak and Daxter game now.  I had a lot of Kingdom Hearts dreams when I was waiting for the release of KHII.
     I still have dreams that I got Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete because I know I really want it, and right now I don't have a Blue-Ray player or a PS3.  Ohh man...
     I should read the preview for the Wii Avatar video game in Nintendo Power.  I wasn't sure if I would be too interested in it, but I think the hype got to me.  o.0  Anyway, for those who know or are clueless, here are links to the trailers, one each for the film and the game.  There are many more, of course. =P

Avatar movie trailer
Avatar the Game trailer

I've decided after watching the movie trailer above that I want to see this movie.  But I'll wait until the crowds settle down first.  Most likely I might see it with my parents and my sister.

My Crappy NiGHTS Art

Well, it isn't really art, it's just a NiGHTS doodle.  I drew it when I wanted my Thai food box to be distinguished from my other family members' boxes in the fridge (leftovers...heh).

What?  WHAAAT?   Don't look at meeeee....!!

Crisis Core: FFVII on Dec. 12

I finally returned to Crisis Core: FFVII on Saturday.  I meant to play a little more into the story but I didn't get the chance to, unfortunately.  I sort of forgot the controls, so I wanted to play a few extra missions to refresh my memory, and also possibly level up Zack.  ^,^
     I started with an easy mission, and then I wanted to do a Normal mission next, which was in the category Seeking Precious Items.  It was called "Desert Island Surprises."  Hmm.  I thought it would be a piece of cake, but in minutes I had to use a Phoenix Down, because one of the bird enemies got me with two powerful attacks that took half my hit points each.  WHAT??!!!  I don't want to lose my Phoenix Down in some friggin' extra mission!  Those life-savers are hard to come by!  So what I did was, I reset the game, and tried again.  Again I failed to avoid using the Phoenix Down.  So I reset again, loaded again, and this time, I decided the best thing to do was to cast barrier at the beginning of every single battle in this mission.  For a Normal extra mission, it was pretty difficult.  Zack had to keep casting barrier (since it doesn't roll over to the next battle) and cast Cura every other minute.  If I needed to, after a battle I used a Potion, since I had 95 of those.  (I should sell some of them, hehehee ^,,,^). 
     Cloud helped me out in the DigitalMindWave, increasing Zack's level to 36.  Squeeeeeaalllll!!
     So next I went to an Easy extra mission to take a break from slashing at those fiends and keeping Zack's a** safe.  Nyaw.  I put my Dark Blizzara materia to good use, and my Thundara too, which leveled up nicely to Level 3.  Then I wanted to continue the search for the Seven Wonders of Nibelheim.  I went back to the kid and he reminded Zack about the painting of a sad girl in the inn.  I examined it once already.  But then I went back there (leaving Sephiroth alone, letting him stare out the window and mope) and entered the bedroom again and saw that only a chair was left in the painting.  The chair the girl in the painting was sitting on!  She really did leave the painting!   O__O  So where is she now?  I went back to the kid and he said the same thing over again.  "Sometimes she leaves the painting and enters our world."  Or something similar to that statement.  Well, I don't have a strategy guide for Crisis Core, so I am totally on my own for this one.  Where can I look?  I tried to look for her in the mountain trail, but it's the same three kids staring at the mako well, and then I came across the Wonder Bombs they were talking to me about.  None of them mentioned the sad girl.  During those battles in the trail,  Zack leveled up to 37.
     I've been wondering if I should find all the Seven Wonders before I talk to Sephiroth or if there will still be a chance afterward.  This little girl is the second of the seven.  [Sigh!].  I'll have to look more thoroughly.  I know what's going to happen if I talk to Sephiroth because I played though that part once before.  I just thought I'd do some more exploring in Cloud's hometown.  (Can Zack go into Cloud's house?  Please? : P )

Crisis Core: FFVII--Why am I not done?

There is a number-one reason why I believed I shouldn't miss out on playing Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

     Cloud Strife is my #1 favorite video game character (Sonic the Hedgehog being my childhood fave).  I've read previews and reviews about Crisis Core from Playstation the Official Magazine and the now-defunct Electronic Gaming Monthly.  These previews and reviews made me want the game more each time.  I knew already that Cloud wouldn't be a playable character in this game, but because of what I saw and learned in the original Final Fantasy VII and the special anime Last Order: FFVII, I became more curious about Zack Fair too. 
     Zack is as much an important character as Cloud is.  The trinity of characters in Crisis Core--Angeal, Zack and Cloud--all come into contact with this Buster Sword.  In fact I find myself calling this weapon the "Honor Sword."
     As it indicates in my list of Video Games I Have Yet to Finish, Crisis Core is there.  I realize this game was released on March 25, 2008, but I didn't get my PSP until this past late April.  By then, Crisis Core was $19.99.
     So, why am I not done with Crisis Core: FFVII?  It is the same reason I am not done with the original Final Fantasy VII, and that is, I am almost done with it.  For FFVII, I already know, being a fan of Square-Enix too late, that Sephiroth is defeated (for the time being =P).  For Crisis Core, I already know Zack's fate.  And I know I am going to cry.  Before I load the game, the background image has text on it besides the title: "Men cry not for themselves, but for their comrades." 
     (SPOILERS Problably...)  Some time ago I reached the part in the game when Zack had to confront Angeal and then fight him when he merged with a few nearby monsters.  Zack had no choice but to fight, and in a way, it was sort of a test of student versus mentor.  Zack won, of course because he's Zack.  Angeal was defeated, and the following scene was very emotional.  And it started to rain, reminiscent of tears.  I got emotional too.  The music makes me more prone to crying. =''(
     So Zack cried for his comrade.  And I already know what's going to happen to Zack.  I think Cloud will cry for Zack, his own mentor and comrade .  I believe that is what the quotation from the pre-load screen is referring too.  I want to know all the events that lead to the last moments.  Maybe I am savoring the time that I don't see the final scenes in detail.  I wonder what music/song is going to play during then.  The flashback was very short in the original game, but in Crisis Core, Zack and Cloud's relationship is shown in more detail (I mean the conversations they share, and what happens as they escape from Nibelheim).  The trinity of these three characters--Angeal, Zack and Cloud--it's fascinating!  I am enjoying the concept of the line between human being and monster (Angeal's one wing, calling himself a "perfect monster"...I should include Sephiroth's questioning his own existence as well, but I'll get to that later).

     *,*!!!  I'm going to play this game within the next two days.  Stay tuned for more Crisis Core rantings.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 co-op Dec. 8th

On December 8th, I played Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 on the Playstation 2.  It is actually not my video game; it's my sister's.  She's a huge Naruto fan and collected three Naruto video games.   I play them too, but only for versus mode or in co-op mode.
     For this game I played in co-op mode.   Naruto: UC2 is an adventure game, although there is fighting in it, and a versus mode that makes us run right back to the Ultimate Ninja series.  My sis always controls Player 1, and I am Player 2.  I jump in when she needs aid--or I can just go in whenever the hell I want (although it ruins camera angles most of the time ~.~)!
     Episode Event:  We made it through Chapter 8 in the game, and then Chapter 9 was the mission "Destroy the Spirit Orb!"  To fill ya in, the heroes are trying to find a way to destroy the Spirit Orb so that the three main villains in the story won't use it for the evil purpose of squashing the Five Lands.  Or the Five Continents.  Or whatevuhr.  ^,,,,,^ 
    My sister wanted to continue with the game's story because, being a Gaara fan, she thought that maybe if the Sand Ninja are involved, Gaara might be there, maybe even become a playable character finally.  So I agreed and we went right to playing the mission, but not before stocking up on items...and not enough at that.  You'll soon read why... 
     So typically we do extra missions to get more money and level up the characters, but this time we began a second mission in a row, Chapter 9.  Destroy the Spirit Orb.  Okey-dokey.  Naruto starts off alone, so my sister led him to the destination.  And then when some enemies appeared--live puppets--Kankuro appeared and used his Crow puppet to take them out.  Now it's my turn to shine!  I played as Kankuro (my personal favorite Sand Ninja...sis and I mock argue that his hat makes him a cat or a bat.  I say he's a cat o.0).  So then they go to where the castle is (that is where the Spirit Orb is being kept) and see that it's on fire!  So they gotta hurry there.  Of course, besides fire there were live puppets to fight.  Floor after floor after floor is more fire and more puppets.  Yeah, good for collecting the yellow "virtue" orbs(experience points?) and energy/chakra orbs.  But it was using up and healing items.  Soon we decided we'd just try to make it to the top of the castle, just find the stairs and go up.
     Okay, we got that done.  We made it to the room with the Spirit Orb.  Gaara is in there with Sakura, and my Kankuro tells Naruto to be careful, that something is not right here.  They go in.  It turns out that something is up with Sakura...and it soon comes out that she is an imposter.  I think I know who it is, but I forgot her name already, or maybe I don't care.  She's the most annoying of the three villans in the game.  She's such a b****.  Ergh...rant rant.  Anyway, Naruto had to fight the Sakura imposter.  Pretty difficult; I jumped in as Kankuro  a few times.  Sis got to play as Gaara... '__'...and after some time we got through the boss battle.  But that was not all.  The b**** summoned three live wasp puppets (instead of one like earlier before...curses!!) and what followed was a looooong multi-boss battle.  Pretty quickly Naruto was knocked out, and Kankuro and Gaara were left. We found a spot where we can have access to fight the bastards while they were in the air. We had few healing items and I think two revival items.  I know from the past that Kankuro did well fighting those things, and Gaara, well... my sister eventually found out that Gaara was right for the job.  His Sand Drizzle attack was an optimal plan, because in order to really hurt those wasp puppets, they had to be hurt to be knocked onto their backs.  That is when they are the most vulnerable.  Unfortunately, with Naruto or Kankuro, only a few hits made it and then they do a counter attack.  Well, sis made Gaara do his Sand Drizzle, and it works for when the wasp puppets were in the air and on the ground.  Sweet!
     We didn't think we were going to make it, but we kept at it.  Sis had faith in Gaara's endurance/defense and attacks.  Soon Kankuro was knocked out and couldn't be brought back because we needed to save the revival item for emergency if there's anything after the battle.  So Sis's Gaara was our last hope.
     When the battle was finally over, we thought we were done.  But not yet.  The b**** managed to have the Spirit Orb taken away, and on top of that, she's going to make the whole castle collapse.  It's already on fire.  So what next?  We had to get out of there in twelve minutes!!!!  Gaara stood in Naruto's stead, but he had only 48 out of his 380 hit points left, and we were out of healing items completely (except for a revival, which revives plus gives 10 hit points).  The fire was worse than earlier, and there were many more of those live puppets lurking around.  Sis resolved just to totally avoid them, just get to the stairs and go DOWN!!   At least there was some margin of time to get lost.  Naruto got a chance to return, but after losing his one hit point, he was revived with ten, and lost nine.  Then sis stuck to Gaara all the way through, while I occasinally pointed out where she can try to go whenever she got stuck. 
     And after THAT, Naruto had to report back to the Leaf Village.  This means running up the map and facing some more bad guys to fight.  With one lousy hit point.   Ugh.  Gaara and Kankuro weren't there to aid Naruto this time. And like that, the one hit point was gone before Naruto got a chance to attack.  :( 

     We played this game from 6:30pm to 10:15pm (and then we had lentil soup for late dinner ^.^;;).  Jeez, all that "virtue" and time, gone, all gone.  Man, Sis really wanted Gaara to be a playable character.  She was really upset.  I told her not to think of it as a huge loss.  At least now we know what is ahead for next time we play this game again.  That is the number one strategy tip for any game: trial and error.  And we'll get more healing items next time, too.

@,@

Jak 3 again, on Dec. 2

     I didn't play too much further into Jak 3 this time.  I think I only completed three missions as opposed to five or six.  Unfortunately I didn't have the recorder with me again.  Half of the time though, I was making Jak collect more Precursor Orbs and Metal-head Skull Gems so I can get more Secrets!

• Activate Astro-Viewer in Haven Forest  (AAAARRGHHH!)
• Destroy Dark Ship Shield  (I feel so powerful...)
• Blow Up Tower Door  (cruisin' and shootin')

     The first mission in this playing session was the hardest.  While Jak is trying to find the turret guns to take out the purple eye-like things on the mountains, these flying dark monsters are shooting at him, along with the Dark Maker creatures that shoot at Jak from a distance.  It took me a while to realize that I hardly used the Plasmite RPG weapon to take them out, especially the ones on the turret guns that he needed to use.  The Peace Maker works too, but the ammo is scarce and it rarely is replenished.  And being in the turret is still dangerous; if the damage meter is depleted, it explodes with Jak inside.  Argh.  After dying many many times, Jak got rid of all those bastards and activated the Astro-Viewer like he was supposed to.
     The second mission was the one when he was inside a Dark Maker robot suit.  It was much less frustrating than the Haven Forest mission.  The area that hurt me the most here is the tunnel Jak has to pass through without letting the blue electricity touch the metal suit.  I knew the pattern the lights moved, but I didn't notice where their placing was.  Of course after trial and error, I found out where to stand and wait until it was a good chance to get moving again.  Once I did that correctly, then I think I made it through the rest of the mission okay because the suit could endure some more damage.
     Lastly, the third mission involved protecting Torn and Sig from the Dark Maker creatures and the red robots that were shooting at their Hellcat Cruiser.  I failed a couple of times, but then I made it to a checkpoint, so finishing the rest of the mission was...well, almost a piece of cake.  Mmmm, cake....

     As you might notice, I included Jak in my list of Top 10 Favorite Video Game Characters.  I've been juggling three of the Jak and Daxter games so far, plus Jak and Daxter: TLF, so I love Jak even more now.  I thought, Duh, he should be on the list too!!